South Korea Shares Due For Consolidation

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has moved higher in back-to-back sessions, advancing almost 500 points or 10 percent. The KOSPI now sits just above the 5,580-point plateau although it's likely to see profit taking on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on surging oil prices and the ongoing war in the Middle East. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The KOSPI finished barely higher again on Friday following gains from the chemicals and automobile producers, weakness from the financials and a mixed picture from the technology companies.

For the day, the index perked 0.97 points or 0.02 percent to finish at 5,584.87 after trading between 5,381.27 and 5,609.98. Volume was 1.2 billion shares worth 31.2 trillion won. There were 524 gainers and 360 decliners.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial skidded 1.18 percent, while KB Financial slumped 1.07 percent, Hana Financial sank 0.81 percent, Samsung Electronics tumbled 1.77 percent, Samsung SDI surged 4.59 percent, LG Electronics rallied 2.25 percent, SK Hynix tanked 1.82 percent, Naver climbed 1.14 percent, LG Chem added 0.62 percent, Lotte Chemical accelerated 3.29 percent, SK Innovation retreated 1.26 percent, POSCO Holdings jumped 2.02 percent, SK Telecom stumbled 1.80 percent, KEPCO gained 1.24 percent, Hyundai Mobis spiked 2.78 percent, Hyundai Motor advanced 0.91 percent and Kia Motors rose 0.36 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened lower on Friday and remained under water throughout the trading day, ending near session lows.

The Dow dropped 453.19 points or 0.95 percent to finish at 47,501.55, while the NASDAQ tumbled 361.31 points or 1.59 percent to close at 22,387.68 and the S&P 500 sank 90.69 points or 1.33 percent to end at 6,740.02.

The sell-off on Wall Street came amid an extended surge by the price of crude oil. Crude oil has skyrocketed over the past week as the U.S.-Iran conflict spreads across the Middle East, leading to concerns about a global energy crisis.

Crude oil prices surged on Friday after Qatar warned of a production halt in the gulf as the ongoing U.S.-Israeli war against Iran has heavily disrupted energy supply routes through the Strait of Hormuz. West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery was up $9.88 or 12.20 percent at $90.89 per barrel.

As the Middle East conflict entered its seventh day, Israel intensified air strikes on Iran, while the U.S. said its attacks on Iran are going to "surge dramatically."

Negative sentiment was also generated by the watched Labor Department report showing U.S. unemployment unexpectedly in February. The Labor Department also said the unemployment rate ticked up to 4.4 percent in February from 4.3 percent in January.